Past Exhibitions

Learn about past exhibitions going back as far as 1941 when the National Gallery of Art first opened to the public.

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Rembrandt's Lucretias
Closed January 5, 1992
Shown from the thighs up, a pale-skinned woman looks down and off to our left as she holds the pointed end of a dagger toward her chest in this vertical painting. Her lips are slightly parted, and her arms are spread wide as holds the hilt of the dagger in her right hand, to our left. Her hooded, dark brown eyes are rimmed with red. Her head tilts to our left, her pale lips parted. There are gray shadows at the corners of her mouth and along her jawline. Her brown hair is pulled back under a cloth covering painted with white flecks to suggest shiny thread or possibly jewels. She wears a long, tawny-brown gown with diaphanous sleeves. The bodice is laced up over a cream-white undergarment with a deep V neck and voluminous sleeves with unfastened cuffs near her wrists. She wears a large, teardrop-shaped pearl in the ear we can see and two necklaces. One necklace is a strand of pearls, and the other is a gold and possibly jeweled pendant with another teardrop pearl hanging from a cord. A gold belt drapes around her hips over a narrow waist. She is warmly lit from the upper left and set against an earth-brown background. The artist signed and dated the center left, “Rembrandt 1664.”
Graphicstudio
Closed January 5, 1992
Soap Bubbles of Jean-Siméon Chardin
Closed September 2, 1991
A young man and child, both with pale skin, are framed within the rectangular opening of a stone window in this vertical painting. At the center, the young man leans toward us over his forearms, which rest on the wide ledge. Angled to our right, he holds a long straw to his mouth to blow a large, glistening bubble that hangs on the opposite end. A second straw rests in a glass cup filled with white liquid, presumably soapy water, that sits near his right elbow, on our left, and he looks down at the bubble. His chestnut-brown hair is tied back with a black ribbon, and curls hang down from his temple. He wears a brown jacket over a white shirt. A younger child peeks over the ledge to our right and also looks at the bubble. Seen from the nose up, the child wears a hat that curves up and over the crown of the head. The face of the brown stone building into which the window is cut seems close to us. A vine of ivy climbs up the face of the building to our left.
Drawings of Landscape and Architecture from the Armand Hammer Collection
Closed November 11, 1991
The image is a sketch depicting a rural scene. The point of view presents a path curving away from us and extending into the distance, flanked by fields. The horizon is marked by a line of trees. The sketch uses light pencil work with faint shading and outline. Close to us, a figure with an animal walks along the path. Sparse details on the left show fields, while to the right, a tree and fence posts create a boundary. The color palette is monochromatic, using natural tones and shadows of pencil on paper.
Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange
Closed September 2, 1991
The image displays an arrangement of rectangular and square shapes layered over each other to create an abstract composition. The shapes feature grids, textured patterns, and overlaid images of various objects. The color palette includes yellows, browns, muted greens, and blues, adding a vintage, collage-like feel. Dots and swirls are scattered throughout, suggesting splashes or faded brushstrokes and enhancing the abstract qualities of the composition.
Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Closed June 16, 1991
A profusion of white roses bursting from the neck of a tan jug almost fills the height of this horizontal still life painting. The roses have large, round blooms with petals tinged with denim and aquamarine blue, sage green, mauve pink, teal, and butter yellow. Emerald-green leaves fill the spaces between blossoms. The jug has a short, rounded handle and sits on a sea glass-green surface. A few blooms lie in the lower left corner and at the foot of the vessel. Many of the flowers, leaves, and vase are outlined with navy blue or black. A mint-green wall with wavy, diagonal streaks of cream white fills the background. The paint is applied thickly with visible strokes.
John Russell Pope and the Building of the National Gallery of Art
Closed July 17, 1991
The Art of Glass
Closed April 14, 1991
Eva/Ave
Closed May 7, 1991
This is a painting of a scene featuring a central reclining figure on a bed, surrounded by other figures. The central figure has a halo and is on a bed draped with greenish-blue fabric. Other figures with halos, wearing robes, are also present, some holding books or objects. A smaller figure at the bottom is knelt in a pose of prayer. There are architectural elements like a bed with a tall headboard and a cross symbol. Above, two smaller figures are in a cloud. The style is reminiscent of unknown medieval manuscript artists, with flat forms and an earthy color palette dominated by red, brown, and green.
Genre Drawings from the Armand Hammer Collection
Closed May 12, 1991
The image depicts a woman standing on the left side, facing slightly towards the left with one hand outstretched towards a child standing next to her. A dog is also present. The woman is wearing a long dress and a hat. On the right side, multiple people are gathered around a bed. Two women are seated on the bed, one holding a baby. Another child and an adult male are leaning on the bed, while another figure stands in the background holding a child. The background appears to be indoors, with a large piece of furniture casting shadows.
Titian, Prince of Painters
Closed January 27, 1991

53 paintings by Titian were exhibited in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Titian's birth. Co-organizers were the Commune di Venezia, Assessorato alla Cultura, the Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici de Venezia, and the National Gallery of Art with Galileo Industrie Ottiche, S.p.A., Venice. This was the first comprehensive Titian exhibition since 1935 and the first ever in the United States. A public symposium coordinated by the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts (CASVA), Titian's Venice, was held on January 26. On crowded weekdays and weekends free exhibition passes were distributed as necessary on a first-come, first-served basis.

A partially nude woman with pale, peachy skin sits to our left looking into a mirror held up by a nearly nude, winged child to our right in this vertical painting. The woman’s body is angled to our left but she looks across her body to our right. She holds her left hand to her chest, and her right hand grips the fur-lined edge of the scarlet-red, velvet fabric that drapes over that upper arm and around her hips. Her blond hair is coiled up in rows of pearls, and she has dark eyes, a straight nose, and her pale pink lips turn up in a subtle smile. A teardrop pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears rings and gold bracelets. The child-like figure to the right stands on a gold-striped cushion facing away from us as he holds up the rectangular, black-framed mirror. He has small silver wings and a sash of golden yellow hangs from one shoulder around the opposite hip. A second child reaches from behind the mirror to hold up a ring of laurel leaves. A forest-green curtain is gathered in the upper left corner and the beige wall beyond falls into shadow to our right.
Selected Baroque Paintings from Italian Banks
Closed November 26, 1990

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